No bias here.
The owner of West Hollywood’s gay-forward novelty boutique Block Party says forget bike lanes and install EV chargers instead, while trotting out all the old cliches about licensing bike riders.
Fast forward to 2022, a debate about removing the parking lanes on Fountain and to install bike lanes in their place, eliminating two for cars to drive. Those bike lane people are ferocious in their arguments. If you had to drive a bike and cars whipped past you it might cause a sense of anger that you deserve a safe space too. But perhaps bike riders who choose to use the road should also be licensed. Maybe they should pass a written test to travel 40 miles down the road. Perhaps they can pay a license fee to help offset the cost of these installations. As a partially sighted part-time driver I can say that it is difficult to drive past the bikes who often show little respect for the road weaving in lanes. But that is another story.
Because apparently, our tax money doesn’t count — even though it pays for the roads he drives, whether we use them or not.
Never mind that studies have repeatedly shown that a licensing program for bicyclists would cost more than it would bring in, while dramatically reducing ridership exactly when we need more people on bikes. Or that bike riders pose a lot less risk to others than people in cars do.
Especially people with bad eyesight.
Besides, are you really going to tell a six-year old she can’t ride her bike because her license expired?
So maybe the next time you’re in WeHo, stop in and tell him why you’ll be spending your money somewhere else.
Besides, not many of us can really pull off the spangled banana hammock look.
Not that our significant others would actually want us to try.
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Crap like this really pisses me off.
A Black Palo Alto man was the victim of a racist road rage attack and hit-and-run last week, for the crime of riding his bike in the traffic lane.
In other words, exactly where he should have been.
The victim had moved into the lane to pass a driver who was attempting to park. Yet when he stopped at the next stop light, he was accosted by a white pickup driver for “riding in the middle of the road.”
The two men began arguing, at which point the truck driver called the cyclist, who is Black, a racial epithet. The victim reported to police that the driver spat on him, reached out to grab his arm, and then drove the truck into the side of the bicycle. The cyclist fell to the ground.
The cyclist said the truck drove over his bicycle, and the driver turned north on Webster Street and then east on Lytton Avenue. The cyclist later saw the truck turn back onto University Avenue heading east and continue driving. The cyclist’s leg had a small laceration, which paramedics treated at the scene. His bicycle was damaged but remained rideable, police stated.
It’s possible that the victim could have moved into the lane suddenly, without signaling or checking behind him, and cut off the driver. Or not.
None of which justifies violence, let alone racism.
The local police are investigating it as a hate crime, as well as an assault with a deadly weapon and injury hit-and-run.
Which is good, because there’s just no excuse for this. Ever.
Period.
And no pit deep enough for someone who could do something like this.
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Things could finally be looking up in Hollywood.
While CD13 Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell has called for a much needed Complete Streets makeover of Hollywood Blvd, challenger Hugo Soto-Martinez has raised the ante with a call for pedestrianizing sections of the iconic tourist attraction.
His challenger @HugoForCD13 has car-free Hollywood Blvd in his transit policy! https://t.co/KBRQVjfbvl pic.twitter.com/nrmjgy85Y1
— Nick Barnes-Batista (@nbarnesbatista) October 2, 2022
Meanwhile, Los Angeleno examines the race between O’Farrell and Soto-Martinez; while O’Farrell has been justly criticized for blocking bike and traffic safety plans until recently, Soto-Martinez is calling for more bike lanes in the district.
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Finish the Ride and the LACBC hosted a Clean Air Ride over the weekend.
We had a great 1st Annual #cleanairca Bike Ride last Saturday! Thank you to all who joined us and to our partners @lacbc for collaborating, and to @laurafriedman43 for joining us.
Sign the petition today. https://t.co/AA5sZ1rt5t#CleanAirDay @cleanairday pic.twitter.com/O5X812k8Tm
— Finish The Ride (@FinishTheRide) October 3, 2022
Speaking of which, Metro will offer free bus, train and bikeshare rides tomorrow for California Clean Air Day.
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Someone did an impressive job trolling St. Louis officials by installing old bike helmets and an official looking public notice calling on pedestrians to use them crossing the street.
All to call attention to the city’s unacceptably high death rate.
— dave drebes (@missouriscout) October 3, 2022
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Evidently, ebikes have been around a lot longer than you may think.
A 🧵on some early ebike designs.
Patent for an electric bicycle
December 31, 1895
Inventor: Ogden Bolton Jr.Bolton put a 10-volt battery on a standard bicycle to create the first known electric bike. pic.twitter.com/VZ5JXfisfp
— Cool Bike Art (@CoolBikeArt1) September 2, 2022
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Horrible story from the UK, where police are looking for four men who chased down a 21-year old bike rider with their car, then got out and stabbed him to death, apparently because the driver had crashed into the victim.
No bias here, either. A victim-blaming road sign in England’s Hertfordshire county instructs bike riders to “Please consider other road users.” Because anti-social bike riders kill so many motorists, evidently.
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Local
Streetsblog eyes the new bike lanes on 1st, 3rd and 7th Streets in DTLA.
Your next bike could have a “Los Angeles” frame with a camo finish. Although that color choice may not be the best option if you actually want drivers to see you.
Santa Monica announced a crackdown on scofflaw drivers who park on the city’s sidewalks and parkways starting next month, urging people to “stop parking like a jerk.” Now tell them to do bike lanes, where the city has allowed delivery drivers to park for decades with no repercussions.
State
Streets For All offers a full recap on transportation-related bills signed or vetoed by Governor Newsom, as well as bills that died in the state legislature. Meanwhile, Streetsblog offers a similar roundup of active transportation, transit and climate bills.
LAist takes a deep dive into California’s new Freedom to Walk Act, which doesn’t actually legalize jaywalking after all; it’s still technically illegal to cross the street in the middle of a block, but police are now directed not to cite it unless crossing poses an imminent danger. However, California’s restriction against jaywalking only applies to blocks with a traffic signal on each end, so it’s already completely legal anywhere else.
The CHP has received a $1.2 million federal grant to “promote the importance of drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians looking out for one another so that everyone can safely share the road.” Maybe they could put the money to better use by giving their officers more training in bike law and bicycle crash investigations.
The victim in Sunday’s fatal head-on crash in Fresno County has been identified as a 51-year old Anthropology professor at Clovis Community College; the driver of the Acura supercar who needlessly took her life as she rode her bike has been identified as a 47-year old Clovis man. Thanks to Keith Johnson for the heads-up.
National
Streetsblog talks with Elizabeth Creely, of the San Francisco-based grassroots advocacy organization Safe Street Rebel, on how to start a grassroots safe streets movement in your city. Or you could ask Streets For All founder Michael Schneider, who’s done a helluva job in just a few short years.
Singletracks revisits their most popular mountain bike product reviews.
Great idea. Bentonville, Arkansas will host the first-ever bike festival for deaf bicyclists next week.
Eleven scenic Hudson Valley bike rides for your next trip to the Empire State.
Philadelphia is investing $23 million in the city’s Vision Zero budget for next year, $6 million more than originally proposed. That compares with $38.5 million in Los Angeles, which has a population 2.5 times higher; LA would have to spend another $20 million to match Philly’s per capita spending.
Mississippi’s Gulf Islands National Seashore has reopened with the first phase of a new bike and pedestrian pathway, with the second phase due in two years.
International
The fourth annual Ebike Future Conference will be held virtually next week, including a virtual expo that will run automatically for the next 22 days.
Bike Radar examines why people and businesses are swapping cars for bikes, transforming their lives and operations by taking to two wheels.
Forget micromobility. The latest trend is minimobility, with three and four wheeled vehicles designed to carry one or two people and fill the gap between bicycles and motor vehicles. Which is a pretty damn big gap, if you ask me.
While bicycling fatalities continue to climb in the US, British bike deaths dropped 21% last year.
Brussels is the latest major European city learning to love the bicycle; the Belgian capital has already come a long way from its car-centric past.
Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, as two riders explore archeological relics and forested parks — and the local hospitality — by biking Jordan’s ancient trade route.
No, an Indonesian bike shop isn’t giving away free ebikes in response to a government gas price hike.
Former Italian pro Omar Di Felice announced plans for a record bike ride across Antarctica, riding to the South Pole and across the continent to the base of the Leverett Glacier and back.
Competitive Cycling
Once again, the pro peloton is justifiably complaining about race conditions, saying “UCI doesn’t care about our safety,” after complaints about dangerous conditions in the CRO Race were ignored by officials.
Pinarello unveiled the world’s fastest 3D-printed bike, allowing maximum customization for Filippo Ganna in his attempt to set a new hour record.
Red Bull looks at L39ion of Los Angeles founder and multiple national crit champ Justin Williams, and his mission to change bike racing for the better.
Finally…
Get a Covid shot, get a shot at winning a bicycle. Apparently, bike surfing is an effective way to make sure drivers see you at night.
And few people realize that sharrow is a portmanteau of arrow and sheep.
During our study tour on Friday I learned something new. The beautiful cycling bridge across the Waal River in Nijmegen is actually a shared use path. I feel like a new type of sharrow would be in order. "Sheep may take the full lane" pic.twitter.com/ltR9fgOHb8
— Lennart Nout (@lennartnout) October 2, 2022
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G’mar chatima tova to all observing Yom Kippur tonight.
Thanks to Matthew Robertson for his latest monthly donation to help keep all the best bike news coming your way every day. Any donation, no matter how large or small, is always deeply appreciated.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
